My Dad's a Lying Coward?
by Writer-Person
Summary: Videl learns of her father's deepest, darkest secret by accidentally going back in time and witnessing the Cell Games firsthand. Will she change the future accidentally? What will she think when she sees Earth's true hero?
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own DB/Z/GT.

* * *

**Prologue: The Discovery**

The last thing Videl could remember was finding herself lying on the ground atop a sidewalk somewhere in West City. It felt as if she had just woken up from a dream, but she knew better than that. She could remember dying by the hands of Majin Buu. She had been sentenced by some ogre who went by the title, King Yama, to go to Otherworld. She bumped into Gohan's Mom and her friend Bulma there. They had asked her if she could assist them in finding Gohan, and of course she gladly did.

They weren't having luck in their search, come to think of it, she couldn't find her dad either. In the midst of searching, all of a sudden, she had found herself waking up back on Earth. After that, she had heard familiar voices ringing throughout the air, begging for everyone to lift up their arms, and help assist them in defeating Buu by giving them their precious energy. Videl could have sworn she had recognized those voices, but she just couldn't pin-point who they belonged to.

No-one was listening to the mysterious voices, that is... until a familiar one started talking. Her father, Hercule, Earth's Savior spoke of needing their energy too, to help aid _him_ defeat Majin Buu. Of course, everyone listened to him. After it was announced that Buu was defeated, everyone began rejoicing, and Videl began searching for her father.

So far, she had been searching all day long, having no luck at all. But just as she was about to give up, and head home, she heard cheering coming from a few blocks down. She immediately dashed toward the direction of the voices, and saw a crowd of people surrounding her father. She wasn't surprised. She had known the instant she her the shouting from down the road, that they were praising none other than her father, Hercule.

"Dad!" Videl shouted as relief washed over her with the view of her unharmed father.

He had taken on that horrid pink monster Buu, and he had beaten him! It was amazing, he seemed to have come out of the dual completely unscathed. Normally, something should have rung a bell in Videl's sharp mind, but she was still a teenager. She was still so naive. She wanted to believe that _her _father was a hero.

Hercule smiled at his daughter, a smile holding back regret, regret for all of the many lies he had told her, and so many other people. But he couldn't help it any longer, he loved the fame, the glory of it. He was addicted to the brilliance of being known as a savior, a hero.

Everyone loved him, they practically worshiped him as if he were a god! He had marble statues of himself holding up a peace sign in practically every city on Earth. If they knew, he'd be ruined. Everyone would hate him if they knew what a fake he was. Even worse, his daughter wouldn't even be able to bare looking at him anymore if she were aware of the detestable truth.

And so, Hercule would play his facade as the righteous do-gooder superman of his time. He would soak it all in like the cocky scum he was, but at the end of the day, a little part of his un-conceited self would rear up again in the back of his mind... and all he could feel was regret...

He wished that he could tell his beloved daughter about the Cell Games. How that friend of hers, Gohan, had actually been the one who had defeated Cell. He also wished he could tell her that he wasn't the one who had defeated Buu, Gohan's Father, Goku, had. He wished a lot of things that he knew would never become a reality. Hercule was about to give his daughter the biggest bear-hug he could possibly muster, but before he could reach her, he was enshrouded by the press.

Videl frowned slightly as she saw her father's 'worshipers' surround him completely. _'Why do I even try?'_ she thought sullenly. _'I had better get out of here before they start asking my opinion on things again.'_

Videl suddenly caught sight of someone familiar out of her peripheral view. She smiled one of the biggest smiles she thought she had ever accomplished before. Pure and utter joy glimmered in her cerulean orbs as the image of Gohan reflected in her line of sight.

She had been so worried after having searched for him with Bulma and Gohan's mom, ChiChi, in Otherworld and having no luck in finding him. She thought something terrible must have happened to have him not appear in the land of the dead. The only other option she could think of was the other place... HFIL. But Gohan was pure, she was sure of that, and she never lost hope.

She remembered making him enter the martial arts tournament and laughed slightly in nostalgia. He had taught her how to fly beforehand, during those lessons, she'd really began to start to like him. She met him at the tournament, but she had been knocked out in one of her fights so she didn't get to see him fight at all.

Gohan's father, Son Goku, had given her some odd bean that healed her completely, but by the time she had returned to the fights again, he had disapeared. Soon after, Goku did too. She was left completely out in the blue.

She couldn't help, but wonder, _'What if Gohan and his Dad had something to do with the defeat of Buu?'_ She chose to shake away that thought rather quickly.

"Videl!" Gohan exclaimed, shaking Videl out of her thoughts.

"Gohan, you're alright!" Videl shouted, wrenching an unsuspecting Gohan into a huge hug.

Once she let go, she smiled slightly as she noticed the deep red blush that had crept onto Gohan's cheeks. Gohan scratched the back of his head, and peered at his sneakers shyly.

"I'm glad you're alright too, Videl," murmured Gohan. "I was about to leave to go to Bulma's house to pick someone up. Would you... er... maybe... um... like to... uh?"

"I'd love to come with you, Gohan!" Videl finished, saving Gohan from being embarrassed.

Gohan and Videl decided to take a hover car to Bulma's instead of flying, they didn't want to attract any unwanted attention.

"So who are we picking up?" inquired Videl casually.

"My mom wanted me to get Goten. He's there playing with Trunks. She wants him home," replied Gohan.

"Oh," murmured Videl, glancing out the window to gaze at the scenery beyond it.

Once they arrived at Capsule Corp. and were within the compounds, Gohan said, "Wait here Videl, I'll go get him."

Videl tried to stay still, but there were so many rooms. She was curious as to what was in them. This was Capsule Corporation, the biggest company on Earth. She just had to take a tiny tour around the place.

_'Gohan won't notice,' _she thought, smirking to herself. _'I'll be back before he even realizes that I'm gone!'_

She snuck past security, and began snooping in the many rooms. So far, to her astonishment, everything had been boring. There had been absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.

_'Some amazing tour,'_ she thought sarcastically,_ 'this place isn't anything special like I always thought it would be when I was a kid.'_

Suddenly, a small silver bracelet lying on a desk caught her attention. It had a few odd symbols on it that she figured were just the design. She suddenly had a desire to try it on for size, and see how it would look on her.

_'No...'_ she thought shaking her head. _'Me putting that on would be wrong! It's not mine. Plus it looks so expensive, I might brake it.' _Videl began to turn to leave the room, but paused, turning back around,_ 'Well, I guess it couldn't hurt if I only put it on for a second...'_

She hesitantly slipped the small bit of jewelry onto her slender wrist. She smiled slightly, and thought, _'How cool, it fits perfectly!'_

She rubbed her finger along the symbols, and gasped as the bracelet suddenly lit up. She immediately began to yank the bracelet off, fearing she'd broken it in some way or another. As she was pulling it off, some off the symbols her fingers were gripping pressed inward.

Videl gazed at her hands completely dumbfounded as they began to glow the same iridescent silver color as the bracelet. Soon, her whole body was enshrouded in the beautiful aesthetic silver glow.

_'This can't be good,'_ she thought, but oddly, she found herself no-longer afraid, but rather entranced by the luminous glow surrounding her entire being.

_'Whatever this is, I think actually found a cool gadget in this place! Finally! I knew there had to be something interesting here!' _thought Videl triumphantly as her body slowly turned into an after-image.


	2. Investigation of the Cell Games

Disclaimer: I don't own DB/Z/GT.

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**Chapter 1: Investigation of the Cell Games**

Videl looked around herself in confusion. This certainly didn't look like the same room she had been in only a matter of seconds ago. It was the same shape, but the decoration, and items in the room were different. _'Huh? This is crazy! Everything's changed so quickly! What happened?' _she thought, utterly dumbfounded.

Videl opened up the door to the room, and walked around. The layout of Capsule Corp. was exactly the same as before, but almost everything in it seemed to be different. The color of the walls and tiling were different than before. Videl began to feel uncertain, and uneasy because of all of the changes.

She scowled down at the bracelet on her arm. "Look what you did, you stupid thing!" she hissed, ripping it off, and tossing it back into the room she'd just left.

"Gohan!" she hollered out, a small part of her mind aware that he probably wasn't there anymore.

Videl walked into the lobby, glancing around every now and then in search of Gohan. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion when she noticed that just beyond the front entrance of Capsule Corp. stood a huge protesting crowd.

The security seemed to be struggling to keep them outside. She considered helping the guards out, but then realized that they'd probably boot her out of the building if they realized an unimportant civilian was inside.

_'Could it be that Buu isn't really dead? Or is it just that these people are skeptical about his death because they didn't witness it. Maybe they're just complaining about property damage to some of their Capsule Corp. items. They couldn't possibly think they're going to get a refund from property destroyed by Majin Buu could they?'_ she thought.

She noticed a small flat-screen television hanging up on a wall in the lobby. Her attention was immediately caught by a television broadcast. Her Father Hercule was live on TV, boasting that he was going to fight Cell first.

_'That can't be right?'_ she thought, _'That happened years ago. Is Dad re-enacting the fight again? But why would he do that now? How could he be up to that after his battle with Majin Buu. Plus, even if he was up to it, wouldn't he want to re-enact his fight with Buu instead?'_

Videl gasped as she heard a familiar voice say something in the background. The camera then pointed toward Son Goku. _'Gohan's Dad, but why?_' she thought questioningly.

"Listen to me, Mr. Satan. If you fight Cell, you'll be destroyed," warned Goku.

Immediately the newscaster, and Hercule began to laugh at Goku. The scene before Videl was visually shaking because of the cameraman was also laughing.

"Get a close-up of the guy with the big hair!" demanded the announcer to the cameraman.

"Got it," replied the cameraman, making the needed adjustments.

The face of a slightly annoyed Son Goku enshrouded the television screen. "My good citizens, can you believe that only moments ago, this large haired hippy had the gull to tell our hero, Hercule, to back out of the tournament? This is an out-rage. This man actually told the martial arts champion of the world that he was going to be defeated! Who do you think you are?" demanded the newscaster.

Goku appeared dumbfounded by the newcaster. He had a look on his face that said, "Are you serious? You guys have to be stupid to still be here, wasting your time on me when Cell is standing right there, ready to kill anyone and everyone!"

* * *

Later on, Videl was even more surprised when she saw the camera point at none-other-than Cell himself after the accusations that were thrown at Goku earlier.

"No way!" she shouted. "This isn't a re-enactment! That's the real Cell, I just know it! And what the heck is Goku doing there?"

Without thinking, Videl ran to Capsule Corporation's front entrance, shoved the guards out of the way, and sprinted straight into the torrent of angry protesters. She was shoved around a good bit before she got sick of it. She knew exactly where the tournament was being held, and immediately took off into the sky in the correct direction. The on-lookers in the crowd were only shocked for a moment. They had other things to worry about.

"I may not know what the hell is going on, but I'm going to find out right now!" she promised herself aloud.

_'Something isn't right,'_ she thought, while wincing due to the wind whipping at her face. She was still yet to be used to flying at a fast rate.

_'How come Gohan's Dad is at the Cell Games?' _she thought for a moment, and an idea hit her, _'When Gohan's little brother, Goten, said 'that lady' was bringing his dad back from the dead, could he actually have been telling the truth? Gohan did hush him up really quickly,' _she pondered suspiciously.

_'That's it! Gohan's dad must have tried to use his 'light magic' against Cell and died! But Gohan told me it wasn't magic, and when I produced that light called ki, I wasn't doing magic, I'm sure of it. That was real energy from inside of me... real power!'_ she thought, being brought back to reality by a bug making a splat against her forehead.

"Ew! Gross!" she exclaimed, wiping the squished insect off of her face. "Another bad aspect of flying," she muttered, sighing in annoyance.

_'Hmm... I wonder where Gohan was when all of this happened? He must have been interested if his dad was there. Maybe he was at home watching it through the news from a safe distance? Come to think of it, I can barely remember the news broadcast myself. It kept going out. It didn't show much of my dad's fight with Cell, just close-ups of him making a pose or something. I wonder how he really beat Cell? If I really am back in the past at the Cell Games, then I'll get to see him beat the tar out of that cockroach-like cretin up close! I can't wait!'_ she thought ecstatically.

_'If I remember right, my dad is always overdramatic before a fight. He'll draw out his entrance to where it takes him 30 minutes just to get down-to-business. So I should be able to get there in time to see my dad kick some serious ass! I guess now I'll get to see the real reason why he can gloat so darn much about his power,'_ she thought.

* * *

"The fighting stage should be around here somewhere," she murmured aloud, gazing down at the dark green foliage, and hills of grass below her.

Videl smiled, and sped up as she saw a patch of desert in the meadow. It was the spot of land that Cell had destroyed in the making of the stage. She could see abnormal cliffs strewn about the dry patch, surrounding the platform Cell had made.

She touched down just outside the stone platform. It seemed that nobody had noticed her just yet. Their eyes were all glued on Cell. She looked around at the camera crew, and wasn't surprised to see her father standing there with his arms folded, giving off the appearance of non-interest. She then glanced to the other side of the platform and saw Goku, Vegeta, Krillin, Piccolo, a young man with violet hair, another man that was bald with three eyes, a large giant of a man with red hair and piercing blue eyes, and lastly a man with unruly black hair tied into a ponytail with a scar on his left cheek.

Suddenly all of them turned to look at her. They seemed utterly surprised to see her standing there. _'They must think I'm a weak foolish girl coming to watch up close or something,'_ she thought thoroughly insulted. _'Figures!'_

The irritation slipped away as she noticed someone familiar. She gasped as a young boy around the age of eleven popped out from behind Goku to get a look at what the Z-Fighters were all staring at. The young man had untidily cut raven spikes of hair, and obsidian-like eyes identical to Goku's. His facial features also looked similar to that of Goku's.

"It... can't be... G - Gohan?" she sputtered out in disbelief.


	3. Hercule is No Hercules

Disclaimer: I don't own DB/Z/GT.

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**Chapter 2: Hercule is No Hercules **

Luckily for Videl, her voice was inaudible to everyone around the tournament grounds, except for Piccolo. Her heart pounded as she too realized this. At first she'd let out an long, exasperated sigh of relief, when she realized that nobody had heard her utter Gohan's name, but she soon gasped, her entire body paralyzed as it occurred to her that Piccolo had heard her.

She had no way of being _entirely _positive of this assumption, but she had a feeling that she was right. Piccolo was standing with his arms crossed; his center-attention was all hers. His eyes were narrowed in scrutiny, as if he were thinking, _'How does this human girl know Gohan's name? Why does she even recognize him at all?'_

'_Oh my Kami!' _thought Videl in horror, _'If he says anything to them, it could screw up the future somehow! Wait a minute… they always say that in movies, but how can I be sure that it will really happen? I guess it's better to be safe than sorry.'_

Videl clenched her fists in determination, _'Videl Satan, you will not do anything to alter the future!' _she commanded herself in third-person.

"But –" she muttered below her breath, "– will he?"

Piccolo still had his hardened gaze glued upon Videl. She felt a shiver run up her spine. She suddenly had the feeling that these people could crush her like an insect if they so pleased. She noticed Goku turn to Piccolo with an inquisitive look. He muttered something. Videl imagined to herself that Goku was asking, "Is something wrong, Piccolo."

Little did Videl know, she was spot on target. Piccolo watched Videl for a few seconds longer, apparently mulling things over in his mind. Videl could feel sweat accumulating on the palms of her hands, _'Well, are you gonna tell him or not?' _she thought silently.

Moments later, she felt as if a large burden had been lifted off of her shoulders. She witnessed Piccolo calmly shake his head no, and Goku turned his attention elsewhere. She afforded herself a glance in her father's direction, noting that he had not yet begun to fight Cell. She then let her eyes slip to the monstrous center-stage creature.

She had to force herself not to appear shocked, afraid. Cell had his attentive eyes locked with her own. He had a somewhat fascinated look upon his face. His eyes made her shudder in fear. She wanted to turn on heel and run away, but what she wanted even more, was to see his downfall.

She could feel that everyone had tracked his gaze, and that they were all staring at the both of them. They were waiting to see what would happen. Cell continued to look at her fixedly. She mustered up the courage to glare at him.

"Well aren't you the brave soul," Cell announced sarcastically. "Tell me, dear, have you come to fight me, Cell, the ultimately perfect being?"

"N- No!" Suddenly, her fear was washed away by her utter sense of disgust for this creature. "You aren't perfect, Cell, you're a repulsive cretin!"

Cell feigned a shocked expression, "Oh my! I am so sorry to hear that! Then, you won't mind my asking why you're here?"

"I – I… um…" Videl stuttered, unsure of what to say, "I don't know why… I guess… I just want to see somebody kick your ass all the way to HFIL!"

'_Kami! I am such an idiot!' _she mentally reprimanded herself, _'I shouldn't know what the heck HFIL is. Normal people call it hell. It's been like five minutes and I'm already giving myself away!' _

Her utterance didn't seem to even faze Cell, "Be careful where you loiter, girl!" he hissed in thorough annoyance. "We wouldn't want you to end up dead, now would we?" his agitated appearance quickly morphing into a cocky smirk.

Videl stood her ground defiantly. She fought her hardest not to glance at the Z-fighters again. She knew that they would be staring at her again. They must have been confused about what she said in her little outburst.

'_Kami, what am I doing here? I should have tried to get back home the second I realized where I was. I'm just meddling with the past now… not intentionally… but still.' _Videl crossed her arms in disquiet, _'How will I get home?' _

Videl nearly jumped out of her skin as she heard the familiar sound of her father's laughter. She subconsciously covered her face with her hand in embarrassment. It was his 'victory' laugh.

'_Okay, dad, it's your time to shine. Make me proud,' _she thought hopefully.

Hercule stood up straight, his fists clenched, an arrogant smirk adorning his face, "It's time for me to show you what happens to those that threaten my planet! I, the great Hercule Satan, shall smite you down! YEEEEAAAHHHHH!"

Videl blushed in embarrassment, "Smite?" she muttered, "Please…"

"I am going to teach you a lesson, Cell. I am going to show you the good 'ole fashioned technique of Hercule whoop-ass!" he shouted, spit spraying from his overconfident yap.

"There you have it, folks!" came the booming voice of the newscaster over his microphone. "Once again, Mr. Satan boldly displays his prowess in all of its immaculate glory!"

Mr. Satan spun around, winked at the camera, and displayed his notorious peace sign. "Bring… it… ON!" shouted Hercule. He turned his back on the camera, his cape swishing with the movement. He began to approach the fighting platform overdramatically. In fact, he seemed to be going in slow-motion.

"Mr. Hercule Satan is really mounting on the tension here for his victim. Cell looks terrified!" the anchor informed the people of Earth.

At which point, Videl witnessed the cameraman point the camera in the direction of Cell, to get a close-up on his face no-doubt. Videl furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, _'Um… what is this guy on?' _

Cell stood in the center of the ring, staring off impassively into space. In fact, if Videl didn't know any better, she'd say he looked downright disinterested. _'It looks like he's just tuning the dufus out. He was more interested in what I had to say… and I didn't have anything to say!' _

"Okay, Cell, prepare to meet your maker! When I'm through with you, you're gonna run cryin' to your mommy, but you're so damn ugly that your mommy's gonna give you a second beating!" yelled Hercule, finishing with his laugh of 'victory' once more.

"And now, my fellow viewers, it appears that Mr. Hercule is verbally assaulting Cell. Cell is so afraid, he won't even acknowledge the insults. He's too scared to retaliate. It appears that Hercule is already winning the battle!" interjected the announcer in a lively, hopeful voice.

Videl sighed, _'You have got to be kidding me! That was like the world's worst insult! Dad, what are you thinking?' _

"Now, time to get serious!" announced Hercule, stepping onto the arena, striding up to Cell. He stopped about ten feet away from Cell. Hercule relaxed, closed his eyes and…

"It appears that Mr. Satan is about to show us one of his outstanding, out-of-this-world techniques!" supplied the newscaster.

"Ohmmm… Ohmmm… Ohmmm…" hummed Hercule, as if he were meditating.

"Oh, my, Mr. Satan is so tranquil, it's… it's beautiful," the anchor interrupted somewhat quietly.

Suddenly, Hercules eyes popped wide open, and he ran toward Cell swiftly. Videl felt her heart pounding in her chest. _'What's he gonna do?' _

Hercule began punching Cell over and over again. Meanwhile, Cell just stood there, taking the hits as motionless as a giant rock. He was still apparently spaced-out.

"His… punches… they aren't even affecting Cell?" Videl mumbled quietly to herself in disbelief.

Hercule jumped backward, away from Cell, "Yeahhhh! You didn't like that, did you? Well, I don't pity you. You're getting what you deserve!"

Hercule awaited a response, receiving none, he cried, "Take this! DYN-O-MITE KICK!"

Hercule promptly ran up to Cell, and kicked him in the chest. He then jumped out of the way, breathing heavily, "Yeahhhh…" he muttered, panting, "Didn't like that…? I didn't think so…"

'_This doesn't make sense,' _thought Videl in horror. _'How could my dad beat Cell? He… he… sucks!?!' _

Cell was impervious to the punches that were thrown at him, and he was unaffected by the kick also. He just stood stagnant, apparently transfixed on the rock formations in his direct vision.

'_He's an android,' _thought Videl, _'maybe my dad bored him so much, he went into sleep mode. Is he a bionic android though? It's so weird that I wouldn't know that… considering all of the documentaries and movies that came out about Cell after the Cell Games. Of course… they all seemed to be about my dad…' _

Videl was beginning to lose interest, and disappointment was rapidly filling up the empty spot left in her mind. _'Okay, if this continues, there's no-way that my dad can beat Cell. I mean… he has like no ki… I have more than him. I haven't even powered up yet either!' _

Videl glanced back up at her father; he was busy assaulting Cell with more kicks and punches. Suddenly and unexpectedly, Cell turned his attention toward Hercule. His expression was still as deadpan as ever, but something had changed, something was different.

Cell promptly turned his back on Hercule, and crossed his arms. Videl could not see his face, but she was certain the he would look somewhat annoyed, as if an insect were buzzing around his head. All of a sudden, when Hercule jumped at Cell again, Cell casually backhanded him away. Though, Cell hit him hard enough to send him careening out of the ring and right at… _'ME!?!' _thought Videl in shock, _'He's gonna hit me!' _

Videl, crouched ever so slightly, and pushed ki into her lower legs, giving the appearance that she was jumping. She was able to dodge the flying projectile that was her father, and stood floating in the air with an irritated expression upon her face. She clenched her fists angrily, _'That jerk hit my dad toward me on PURPOSE!' _

Videl glanced back, to see her father's legs sticking out of a cliff. She rolled her eyes. This was just typical.

"Ladies and gentleman, the worst has come. Our champ has been thrown out of the ring!" shouted the announcer.

A slutty redhead who had come to glut about Hercules's macho-man abilities seemed annoyed, but then the camera pointed at her and she smiled. She made a sexy pose in front of the camera and shrieked in mock horror, "Oh no, the champ has been disqualified! Poor Hercule! What are we going to do without our savior?"

"That's a great question, Smutty Lewderson!" continued the announcer in earnest, "Oh what will we do? We are but sheep without our herder! Oh woe is me, who will save us from the wolf?"

The first thing that Videl noted was that she wanted to kick the newscaster and Smutty's asses. She noticed secondly, that once again, the Z-fighters were watching at her, except for Krillin, who appeared to be cracking up about what happened to Hercule.

'_Well,' _thought Videl, _'I guess none of them noticed me until I touched down, because I flew here. Otherwise, this shouldn't be much of a surprise to them. I guess it's not every day that you see a flying human…' _

The third thing Videl realized, which by now, was less of a shocker, _'My dad lost! Who's going to beat Cell now? Oh my Kami! If dad didn't beat Cell, then the real hero never got the recognition he deserved! My dad has been kicking it back his entire life in fame for something that he'd never accomplished!'_

Videl glared at the newscaster, and his trio, _'That means that they lied,' _She glanced back at the hole in the rocky cliff, _'and HE lied! He lied to me my entire life!' _

_

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_

A/N: As I noted in the description, this fic. is no-longer on hiatus. I hope whoever has read this far has enjoyed it. I will be updating soon! :)


	4. Androids and Saiyans and Dimwits, Oh my!

Disclaimer: I don't own DB/Z/GT.

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**Chapter 3: Androids and Saiyans and Dimwits, Oh My! **

Videl clenched her fists into little balls and stiffly glued them at her sides in an act of indignation. Her azure shaded eyes seethed like a blue flame, the hottest portion of fire. She felt such an intense sense of rage; she desperately wanted to hit something. She wanted to beat something, anything would do. What she really needed was something to take her mind off of this unrelenting anger that she felt.

She couldn't ignore her utter sense of betrayal. _'How could he do that to me?' _came the piercing cry of her anguished mind. _'How could he just flat out lie to me like that… me… his own daughter? Do I even really know him?' _

Videl glanced up at Cell. He had his calm and level gaze locked on her with an air of curiosity. He wanted to get some sort of reaction out of her. She knew that Cell had thrown her goofball of a father at her on purpose. _'It seems that even hideous monsters can have a sense of humor.' _Regardless, Cell had not been granted what he had wanted to attain. She guessed that he had been searching for some hint of recognition in her face, some trace of annoyance… something that would be entertaining for him. She didn't quite know exactly what he wanted, but whatever it was; she'd be damned if she'd let him bask in the pleasure of having it.

She continued to watch him for a split second longer. She watched for any sign of emotion… _'There!' _she thought with triumph. She had spotted Cell's facial muscles morphing into a look of disappointment. It only compassed about a millisecond of time before it was gone, but she had seen it. For just that moment, she felt that she had conquered the world. She had beaten Cell, even if it was only a figurative victory.

She had been granted her small wish for a distraction to hide away from her burning emotions, but nevertheless, the second that short disruption was gone, all of the hurt came flooding back in with a torrent that amazingly seemed to be even worse than the first go-round.

This time, though, she felt the humiliation weighing in on her mind. She thought of all of the fame her father had, all of the triumphs he boasted of, and she was left feeling ashamed. She was mortified that he could even live with himself! His entire life was a lie!

Videl roughly combed her fingers through the net of her short raven locks of hair. She suddenly felt so overwhelmed. She was extremely frustrated. She didn't know what to think. She couldn't overlook the repugnance of what her father was guilty of, but on the other hand, she loved her dad more than anything in the entire world.

'_Oh dad,' _she thought, _'please tell me you can explain. Please tell me that I'm just assuming things… please…' _

And suddenly, Videl felt more alone than she'd ever felt in her entire life. She felt completely isolated, with nobody to turn to. It was like when her mother died when she was little, but it was even worse now. Now, the one person she had left was the one that was hurting her.

Videl crashed back down to Earth as she saw the vision of Cell's backside flying directly toward her. _'What the-' _was all that she could manage to think before the back of Cell came to a sudden halt right above her. His wings were mere centimeters away from her now ashen face. _'Why the hell does this keep happening to me?' _she thought with a sense of deja vu.

She let out a tiny exasperated sigh of relief. She could vaguely sense her whole body quivering in alarm. Her heart was racing in her chest. It was palpitating so hard, she could hear it ringing in her ears. She distantly wondered whether Cell heard it too.

In an instant, Cell had disappeared yet again. He was no-longer nearly on top of her, he was now casually hovering inches above the ring, having an apparent stare-down with Son Goku. Videl furrowed her eyebrows in frustration. _'What just happened? What all did I miss? When did Goku begin fighting Cell anyway?'_

Goku was still frozen in a position of offense. She had a strong feeling he had been the one who had sent Cell reeling out of the arena and directly at her. The jumbled mess of her mind began to sew the broken fragments back together. _'So sometime while I was distracted, Cell began his fight with Gohan's dad. It's safe to assume that Goku just attacked Cell, and threw him out of the ring.' _

She sighed again, inwardly berating herself for not paying more attention to the here and now. She tried her best to ignore her father, who had recently been removed from his Hercule-shaped hole in the cliff-face. He was now jabbering to the side of her with the broadcaster about having been wronged in some way or another… something about Cell cheating… Videl failed, she couldn't ignore the commotion her father drew around him at all times.

" – I'm telling you…! Cell is a cheat! He pretended to be weak and scared so I, the great Hercule, would let my guard down."

"So, Mr. Satan," began the newscaster sincerely, "you're saying that you were being swindled by Cell?"

"Yes! Completely bamboozled! He used the oldest trick in the book to win! Me, I'm very sympathetic with people, perhaps too nice, and he totally took advantage of my thoughtfulness. He, sir, is nothing but a hustler!"

Videl's face turned bright red. She felt completely embarrassed. For the moment, she entirely forgot about her being a stranger to everyone at the arena. It slipped her mind that to these people; she had no connections with Hercule Satan. Videl instinctively glanced over to Gohan. He was watching Hercule make a fool of himself. He was watching with a curious sort of look on his face. He glanced at Videl for a split second, and upon having connected his gaze with hers, he timidly turned his attention elsewhere.

Videl could not withold her rage any longer. She strode up to her father, feeling completely ashamed of him. "So – " she began, straining to make her voice heard by all, "are you going to blame Cell for your incompetency all day long, or are you going to finally shove a sock in it and allow the rest of us to watch some true fighters protect the Earth?"

Hercule stood staring at her for a moment, and then casually made a shooing gesture toward her. "You have no idea what you're talking about, little girl. You wouldn't understand the complicated characteristics of a true warrior."

Videl's eye twitched in anger. Her face was gradually becoming an even darker shade of red. She had her fists clenched tightly at her sides. "A _true _warrior isn't interested in the attention of the media. A _true _warrior doesn't even consider for a second what other people think of him. A _true_ warrior doesn't make a show for the masses just so that he can be popular, so that he can have statues of himself, so that he can be worshiped. Most of all…!" she paused, taking in a large angry breath, "… most of all, a _true _warrior knows that he should _never _underestimate his opponent and that he can _never _let his guard down in a battle!"

For a few seconds there was dead silence. Videl stood stalk-still, breathing heavily, fire in her eyes. She hadn't noticed that the fight between Cell and Goku had paused. She wasn't aware that everyone's eyes were centered on her of all people.

For the second time that day, Videl was brought back to reality with startled surprise. She flinched as she heard a slow rhythmic clapping sound coming far off to her side. She turned in the direction of the sound. She watched in astonishment as Cell applauded her small speech.

"Bravo, dear girl. I admire your spunk, but I'm afraid a louse like him will never learn," Cell spoke with a rather sarcastic congratulatory air.

Videl stood staring at him, her mouth slightly agape in wonderment. She silently speculated as to why Cell, of all people… er… things, would pause to listen to her ripping at her dad. _'Is he really that bad? Do people really want to see his pride brought down a notch that much?' _

"Now, if you will be so kind as to excuse me, I think Goku's getting a little antsy over there. You know Saiyans… they enjoy a good fight. I wouldn't be surprised if he were more interested in the fighting aspect than he is in saving the world." Cell sent a smirk over in Goku's direction as he finished.

Videl watched Goku clenching his fists. They were shaking. Cell had just dealt him the hardest blow yet and it wasn't even physical. She could have sworn for a second that she'd seen his hair flash an even brighter form of gold. For just the slightest moment, it almost seemed as if his entire body was encased in an aura of golden light.

'_Am I seeing things, or is that his ki? That would sorta explain why his hair can turn from jet-black to golden-blonde in an instant.' _Videl squinted at Goku's face in bewilderment._ 'Wait a minute… I didn't notice that before. His eyes are teal now… they weren't that color before… were they?' _she thought uncertainly. _'I could have sworn they were the exact color of obsidian, or at least super dark brown…?'_

Videl pondered this for a moment, eventually admitting defeat. She could think of no answer to these questions, and they were pretty tedious anyhow. Though, something still hovered in her mind. She didn't understand it at all, and that was precisely why she couldn't be bothered to forget about it. _'You know Saiyans… they enjoy a good fight.' _Cell's words trailed unrelenting circles around in her mind. _'What is a Saiyan?' _

Videl's attention was brought elsewhere for the moment as she watched her father lean in toward the announcer and ask him whether they could edit that little tidbit out. Videl slapped her forehead in annoyance. _'When will this madness end?'_

"Don't worry, Mr. Satan. We tell the people that they're getting live footage, but it really passes through some editors before they lay eyes on it," the announcer reassured Hercule.

"But will they know to take that part with the hormonal girl out? That could really put a dent in my image!" Hercule complained furthermore.

"Don't worry, Mr. Satan," replied the anchor emphatically, "The media is on _your _side! In times like these, the people really need a champ they can look up to."

Apparently thoroughly reassured of his status, Hercule stood up erect, puffing his chest out, and flexing his biceps. The cameraman turned the video-recorder in Hercule's direction to get a full-on shot of the good stuff. Who the heck cared about the blonde hippy in the ring anyway?

"People of Earth, it may appear as if _I_, _the_ Hercule Satan, champion of the Earth, bringer of good, savior to you, have been defeated. It may appear that I have been downcast, brought upon knees by the enemy, but there is no reason to lose faith. For when Cell finishes off these goons..." Hercule paused and made a large sweep of his arm to indicate Goku and pals.

The cameraman smoothly and professionally followed Hercule's limb in the direction of the Z-gang. He made some minor adjustments, and zoomed in on the faces of the Z-fighters.

Hercule cleared his throat in agitation, and the cameraman quickly restored the glory of all that is Hercule Satan, champion of Earth, to the camera lens.

"…. As I was saying," continued Hercule, "Once Cell has smote down the likes of those people, the rest of the contestants, Cell can claim the title of Martial Arts Champion. People of Earth, fear not, for once this silly game is over; I will be standing in his way, ready to bring... him... DOWN! I will put an END to his conquest. I will show him who the champ REALLY is, when there are no ridiculous rules that have to be followed! I will bury him in the very center of the ring he himself has made… and…"

At this point, Videl lost interest in Hercule's rant. She was used to this sort of speech from him, and she was aware that at about this point of his discourse, it was going to very quickly become redundant.

Videl turned her attention back to Goku and Cell. She watched in awe as they fought. Well, to be very truthful with herself, she couldn't even keep up with them. She could sometimes follow their moves, just for a moment, and every once in awhile, she could see flashes of them, seemingly reappearing out of nowhere.

"Wow, this is incredible," she spoke aloud in pure astonishment.

Suddenly, she felt herself being won over by this man she'd just recently met, this mysterious stranger. All of her bets were on him. She just had this itch at the back of her mind telling her that _he_ could beat Cell. She found herself smiling at him in pure joy, thinking, _'If anyone can do it, you can! Kick cell's tail, Mr. Son!'_

Still, Goten's innocent words reverberated in her mind like wildfire. She couldn't shake the feeling that she was hiding something from herself, that she knew something. Videl put up a tough wall around herself her entire life. She protected herself from being hurt so badly… again. Sometimes, she'd even caught herself in the action of trying to convince herself of something that she knew was wrong, just to stay behind her safety-wall. She couldn't do this anymore. She had to understand why she had doubts.

* * *

_Flashback:_

"_So… Gohan," began Videl, trying to concentrate on levitating and speaking at the same time. "you learned a lot of this stuff from your dad, right?"_

_Gohan turned his attention to her with apparent surprise. "Y-yes, why do you ask?" he inquired with a timid smile. _

"_Well, I don't want to be intrusive or anything, but I was just wondering… where _is_ your dad?"_

_Gohan stared at her blankly for a moment. She couldn't tell if he was shocked and didn't know what to say, or if he was hurt and didn't want to show it._

"_Well," Gohan replied, endeavoring to come up with a plausible answer without giving too much away, "My dad, he… he lives pretty far away, and I haven't seen him for awhile."_

_Videl dropped to the ground, giving her undivided attention to Gohan._

"_How long?" Videl knew she was being invasive now, but she just couldn't help it. Her curiosity was overcoming her good-nature. _

_Gohan landed, beside her, "Seven years," he replied in a deadpan voice._

_Videl couldn't hide her gasp. She suddenly felt sick. Her complacent expression was beginning to ebb away into anger. "That's no excuse," she nearly shouted, she couldn't hold it back anymore._

_Gohan looked surprised again, "It's… complicated. Videl, don't worry about it. I don't blame my dad for not being here. He… did what he had to do, and there's not much more to it. I know that he loves me, Goten, and my mom." _

_At this point, Goten swooped to the ground with a giddy expression on his face. "During this year's Martial Arts Tournament, I'm gonna meet my daddy for the first time!" _

_Videl looked on at Goten in horror. She'd not thought of it, but Goten was only seven. Of course he'd never met his dad. Videl forced herself to smile for little Goten's sake, "Really?" was all she could muster to say._

"_Really!" squealed Goten in delight. _

_She caught Gohan genuinely smiling at his little brother._

"_Mommy said the witch-lady's bringing daddy back from the dead!" he shouted with an ear-to-ear grin. "I can't wai–"_

"_Goten!" Gohan chided, "Don't say that!" _

"_Oops, sorry," Goten pouted. _

_Videl thought about what Goten said. She was seething with anger. 'The 'witch-lady' _must _be Gohan's dad's new wife or girlfriend or something! I can't believe Gohan can still respect his dad after he just up and left him and his mom for that other woman and never looked back! ChiChi must have been pregnant too! How sick can a person be?'_

_End Flashback_

* * *

"Could it be?" Videl whispered, looking at Gohan, then Goku, then Cell with a disturbed frown adorning her face.

'_When ChiChi told Goten the witch-lady was bringing his dad back from the dead… could she have been literally meaning it? This would be the time that Goku would die, almost exactly seven years from the future. After all, when I met Goku at the tournament, he had something that looked like a halo over his head.'_

'_No,' _Videl shook her head, trying to fight back tears._ 'He can't lose. He can't die. He can't leave Gohan by himself like that! No, I'm wrong! I have to be! People can't be brought back from the dead for a day. This is... it's madness! He can't die! Gohan... he can't...' _

* * *

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! :) Don't worry, I won't shred Hercule to pieces throughout the whole fic. I genuinely do like Hercule... at times. So, I'm going to redeem his character eventually. Thank you for all of your feedback thus far! :) I will update as soon as possible!


	5. This Just In: Hercule S Saves the Day

Disclaimer: I don't own DB/Z/GT.

* * *

**Chapter 4: This Just In: Hercule Satan Saves the Day**

Videl's face exhibited a mournful expression as she watched the battle draw on. She kept telling herself that there was no reason for Goku to lose. From what she could actually make out of the fight, it seemed as if both Cell and Goku were even. Unaware of it herself, both she and Goku were simultaneously asking themselves the same question: _'Is Cell just playing? Is he stronger than this?' _Of course, Videl also was in the dark that Goku was holding back as well.

The battle resembled that of a majestic yet frightening dance. She amused herself by naming it _the dance with death_, a very worthy name for such an imposing display of strength and agility, she thought. She could only hope that the ending of such a brilliant dance would end the life of the antihero, Cell.

She unintentionally whispered aloud what had been branded in her mind since the instance she realized that Goku might lose, "Be _careful_, Goku." It was just as much of a command as it was a plea. "Your son Gohan needs you."

Videl felt a chill run up her spine as she watched Goku's level gaze connect with her own frightened and somber eyes. He'd heard her somehow! She just knew it. Her voice had only come out as a slight whisper. She was aware that it wasn't even scientifically possible for a _human_ to hear her soft utterance from such a distance. But then again, who's to say that Goku is even human? Curiously enough, he didn't give her a confused expression as his answer like she was expecting. After all, why shouldn't he? He didn't have any clue who she was. Also, how could she know his name… okay… scratch that, Cell had spoken Goku's name, but how would she know Gohan's name, and that he was his son?

No, to her astonishment, Goku wasn't in the least bit dumbfounded. He had a look on his face that told her that he understood. She was positive that he understood automatically, just by looking at her, that she knew him and his son somehow, and that Gohan's well-being meant a lot to her. As if to reassure her that her assumptions were correct, he flashed her a smile, and a playful thumbs up.

And within an instant, his attention was turned elsewhere. He began to create an aura around himself. The air gravitated around him like a gust of wind, like a torrential whipping tornado. She watched in awe as his eyes lit up with a renewed vigor, his power level fluctuated, then spiked dramatically, and as he let out his first wail of triumph, she flashed back on her memory of meeting him for the first time at the latest World's Martial Arts Tournament:

* * *

_Videl woke up with the nastiest headache she'd ever felt before. If she'd ever been into partying she'd be comparing it to the hangover of death. She squinted her eyes at the bright light that hung above her, feeling both groggy and nauseous. _

_She was lying down, but she couldn't shake off the awkward feeling of vertigo that suddenly overwhelmed her. She tried to identify her bearings the instant her eyes began to focus. _'Oka_y,_' _she thought, _'Either I'm in a hospital or I'm at the dentist.' (Hence the bright light shining in her eyes overhead)

_The instant she attempted to move a limb, a shot of excruciating pain shot up said limb – being her right arm – and she let out an exasperated moan. As soon as the aching pain was subdued to a subtle tingling sensation, Videl ruled out one of her two options: _'Alright, I'm definitely not at the dentist.'

_Videl found herself suddenly distracted by a loud commotion going on outside the door to her hospital room. She could hear shouts here and there, scattered amongst the inquiries of what Videl assumed would be tele-newscasters. It wasn't a difficult assumption to make, whatever happened to her or anyone else close to the world's beloved champ was always televised within an instant. _

_She could clearly hear someone ask above the rustle of the rest of the crowd, "Please, Mr. Satan, we must know, is she alright? If she's severely hurt, something really needs to be done about that sicko Spopovich. Oh! Wow! That'll make a great documentary title! Just imagine it Mr. Satan, the Sicko Spopovich Trials! It sounds so gripping doesn't it?"_

"_Please!" Hercule shouted at the newsman, "This isn't some joke you can spread around the world like this month's gossip! This is my DAUGHTER we're talking about, and this publicity is the LAST thing she needs! Don't you think she's been through enough as it is?" _

"_Oh no, Mr. Satan!" the man replied with a shocked pale face, he was waving his hands in front of his face in a negatory expression. "We just want to make sure that this monster gets what he deserves, that's all!"_

"_Well, call it whatever you want, but I don't want any of you near my daughter until she's well enough to beat you all off herself. In the meantime, if I catch you anywhere near her hospital room, I will show you what it feels like to be manhandled by the champ!" _

_With that said, Hercule threateningly punched a fist into the palm of his hand and smirked. It didn't take very long for news-people and journalists to skedaddle. _

_The first thoughts that had crossed Videl's mind, having overheard her father's conversation with the media was: _'Darn it! That jackass Spopovich beat me!'

_She was immediately enraged with herself. How could she let that ugly jerk beat her? What would Gohan think? At this thought, she blushed slightly. What did it matter, what's is done. _

_Her father didn't visit for long. He was pulled out very shortly. She didn't mind. She knew he was a busy man, and it was nice to not have her overprotective father crying over her bedside. _

_Not long after her father's departure she was startled by a rap at the door. After a moment of bemused silence she suddenly realized that she was keeping someone waiting. "Come in," she consented nervously._

'Oh crap! What if it's Gohan?' _she suddenly thought in terror. _

_Fortunately for her, it wasn't Gohan. It was only… someone that looked a lot like Gohan? "Um… hi. Do I know you?"_

_The man standing at the door had a face that was nearly identical to Gohan's. It was sending chills up her spine. She couldn't quite tell how old he was. He looked really young. His body was a little more bulked up than Gohan's so she assumed he had a larger muscle mass because he had more experience than Gohan – thus, he must be older than him. His most discerning feature was his hair. It was jet black, like Gohan's, but it was jutted up in spikes that flew in ever which-way. _

"_No, I don't believe we've met before," the mysterious Gohan-look-a-like replied with a sincere smile._

"_I get it," began Videl, overanalyzing things as usual, "Gohan never mentioned you to me before, but you must be his older brother, huh?"_

_Goku's face appeared stunned for a split-second, and then he burst out laughing uncontrollably. _

"_Hey!" Videl shouted, lifting herself a little unconsciously and starting a new bout of pain. _

_The man saw her reaction and instantly appeared at her side with a worried look on his face. "You shouldn't move," he instructed._

"_I _know_ that!" Videl grunted in annoyance, "It was an accident."_

"_Oh."_

"_Why did you laugh at me?" she questioned. _

_The man began to chuckle again. He immediately caught himself, "Sorry." _

_Videl was glaring at him now._

"_I… er… well, you see…" began the young man, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, "I'm Gohan's dad, Son Goku, but you can just call me Goku." _

_Videl's face went completely ashen-white. "No way! You look way too young to be Gohan's dad!"_

_Goku laughed again, "Really? Ya think so? It might be because I was dea-" Then Goku's hand suddenly shot over his mouth, and he finished with whatever he'd wanted to say originally left unsaid. _

"_What?" asked Videl, really curious._

"_Oh nothing!" Goku nearly shouted in response. _

_Videl narrowed her eyes, _'He's hiding something from me,' _she thought._

"_So why are you here anyways?" she inquired, even more interested in that question._

"_Oh!" exclaimed Goku looking surprised, "It was such a pleasure meeting you, Videl, that I nearly forgot!" With an earnestly happy expression on his face he reached into his pocket and procured a small green bean. "This is for you." _

_Videl examined the bean, quirking an eyebrow in bemusement. "You brought me a bean?"_

_Goku shook his index finger in front of Videl's face. "Not just any ordinary bean. It's called a sensu bean. You see, Gohan really likes you…"_

_Goku's smile brightened a little as he paused to watch Videl's reaction, which was of course, a bright red blush of embarrassment. _

"… _he was really upset about how badly that Spopovich fellow beat you up in the ring. So, I told him that while he went into the ring with his next competitor I'd go and fix things so that we wouldn't miss his match and so that he wouldn't have to worry anymore!"_

_Videl was utterly confused at this point, "I'm not following you, Mr. So – Goku. I mean, I'm in no condition to watch the fight with you."_

_Goku laughed at her, "Of course you aren't right now, but after you eat this bean you will be!"_

_Videl glanced at the bean uncertainly, _'What if it's poison?' _she thought, _'What the heck is a little bean gonna do anyway?'

_Unbeknownst to her, Goku had read her mind, "Just humor me, Videl. You'll see what I mean."_

_Against her better judgment, Videl reached out tentatively for the little green been and at this point, she suddenly remembered how injured she was and screamed out in pain. _

"_Here, let me," spoke Goku, bringing the bean up to her mouth himself. _

_Videl blushed in embarrassment, but nevertheless complied by opening her mouth and allowing him to pop it in there for her. She chewed the little bean up. It was really crunchy, and pretty bland. She swallowed it, and waited nervously for something to happen._

"_So?" she began, completely confused._

_Goku smiled warmly at her, "Move an arm or something," he encouraged. _

"_Are you crazy?"_

"_Just do it," he replied. _

_And to Videl's sudden astonishment, she was able to move her arms and legs with ease. In fact, she felt better than ever. It was as if all of her scratches, bruises, and broken bones had disappeared into thin air._

_For the first time since she met Goku, she finally flashed him a happy, toothy grin, "Oh my Kami! What happened?"_

"_That bean you just ate heals injuries," replied Goku simply. _

"_H – how?"_

"_That doesn't matter right now," began Goku, looking off to his side. _

_He appeared as if he was searching for something in the distance, but he was sandwiched into the room by four walls, so Videl knew he couldn't possibly be seeing anything. Or was he searching for ki? Maybe he was better at it than she was. He suddenly turned his attention back toward her and held out a hand to help her up, not that she needed the help anymore. Nevertheless, she took his hand with a thankful smile and nearly screamed out with joy when she floated to her feet with ease. _

"_Come on," said Goku, "We have a fight to watch. I just hope we didn't miss too much of it already."_

"_B – but aren't we at the hospital? That's kinda far from the tourney grounds. I can fly…" Videl paused, twiddling her thumbs nervously, "… but not very fast." _

"_No problem," replied Goku, "Just take my hand." At this point, Goku held out his hand again._

_Videl felt awkward. Why would he want her to take hold of his hand again? But regardless of this feeling, she grabbed a hold of it. The last thing she remembered was hearing him say something along the lines of, "Hold on tight, I don't wanna lose you."_

_Then, she suddenly found herself surrounded by Gohan's friends, looking out at the Martial Arts Tournament stadium. She remembered herself feeling in awe with the magnitude of that of which she'd never felt before. She vaguely remembered suddenly thinking that magic and fairytales do exist._

_Then, the last words she heard uttered out of Goku's mouth for a very long while was: "You can let go now." _

* * *

With this said, Videl found herself back in the here and now, or rather the there and then. She refocused on this year's tournament grounds and could just make out Goku's ki flickering to a brighter gold. He had his fists clenched in the hair, and at this point he was screaming to the skies in what looked like agony, but Videl Satan knew better than this. She could feel the unbelievable flux of ki pulsating the very air around her.

'_So it was his ki that was making his hair golden after all! I knew his hair was black. That would also explain why Gohan could pull off the 'Golden Warrior' Why didn't I think of that sooner?.' _she thought to herself.

Amazingly, she could see his muscle mass increasing by the second, and she thought it was a wonder how the tendons in his arms and legs hadn't snapped under the pressure by now. He stopped screaming for a moment, apparently getting some breath. His aura died down a bit, and then, all of a sudden, he let out one final prolonged scream with renewed vigor.

The golden aura blasted out even further beyond his body, causing a torrent of wind to blow out all around him. The blast of wind suddenly slammed into Videl, and it felt like falling face forward for two stories and hitting a solid wall of concrete.

She scrambled to get a hold of something so that she wouldn't fly back into the cliffs. Her nails scraped at the war-torn rubble beneath her feet, and as a last resort, she powered up her ki as high as it would go and tried her hardest to push herself forward against the wall of wind and energy.

She thought for a split second that she wouldn't make it, that she'd be blown out into oblivion. His energy was so incredibly intense, that it felt like it was crushing every inch of her body. Just as she was about to lose hope, the screaming stopped, and the wind died down to a constant breeze that seemed to enshroud Goku's body in a protective shield of its element.

The entire expanse of Goku's body was a luminescent shade of gold. It seemed to be moving; it looked as if it were pulsating around him like the arteries imbedded in his flesh. She watched in silent awe. She could feel the creep of his ki brushing against her senses. It had a pleasant feel to it. It made her smile. It made her feel safe and reassured again.

* * *

Meanwhile the cameraman, who had apparently been blown up against a rock, ran up to the scene, and zoomed in on the golden warrior. "Wow, folks," he breathed with astonishment into the camera, "this is great stuff. I have no idea what exactly it is, but it's intense… it's totally epic!"

She watched as her father brushed past her, and slapped the cameraman upside the head, all the while saying, "Stop misinforming the good citizens of Earth with this nonsense. That is nothing special at all! It's only a mere trick of light, there's nothing more to it!"

"But what about that incredible gust of wind that knocked us all off of our feet? It was so powerful!" replied the cameraman suspiciously. "That couldn't have been a trick of light!"

Hercule looked stumped for a split second but he quickly recovered himself. "There's an extremely simple explanation for that. I can't believe you haven't noticed it. It's so simple even a child could think of it."

"What is it then?" asked the cameraman skeptically.

All of a sudden, Hercule looked away from the camera, back at the differing sizes of cliffs in the distance. "Oh no!" he screamed. He covered his hand over his mouth in an overly-theatrical sort of way. "That poor newscaster, he appears to be stuck in the rubble! I – Hercule, doer of good, vanquisher of evil, savior to humanity, hero to you – _must _help him this instant!"

Throughout his short speech, Hercule was making poses in front of the camera. After all, he had a professional image to uphold. After a moment longer of posing, he bolted off to rescue the newsman. Videl rolled her eyes, _'Oh yeah,' _she thought sarcastically, _'He's SO stuck in the rocks!'_

The tip, literally, the very tip of the newscaster's boot was stuck under a large rock. From the looks of it, his foot itself wasn't stuck under the rock; the man just didn't want to give up his shoe. Videl had to turn her back on the two to keep herself from yelling at her father. She knew that her father was just trying to change the subject with the cameraman. He couldn't defend himself, so he was diverting the world's attention. She could hear the anchor in the background thanking Hercule for freeing his leg… not his foot… not even his toe… his entire leg! Now this was just getting ridiculous! The newsman seemed to be playing Hercule's game with him! Just how many of these people were faking Hercule's reputation?

The newscaster was now back on his feet, doing slight reverential bows to Hercule Satan. Videl could hear Hercule's so-called companion, the red head, Smutty Lewderson, whispering loudly into the cameraman's ear, "You're getting this right?'

The cameraman glanced up from his video-camera, appearing almost dumbfounded but in a sarcastic sort of way, "It's my job isn't it? To record all of Hercule's so-called _amazing _moments. Let's just ignore the real fight!"

Smutty growled impatiently, "You better not be recording this convo."

"Don't worry, Smutty, the sound's off at the moment, and anything that isn't Hercule friendly always gets cut out of the original work."

Smutty smirked, "Alrighty then," she replied.

Just as the cameraman was finishing the minor adjustments to turn the camera sound back on, Smutty swept before him, running her hands through her flame-colored hair in mock-distress. The cameraman gave her the thumbs up symbol, or the we're 'back on' message, and she fluidly turned to the camera with a worried face. "Oh no! Did you see that folks? Our favorite announcer was almost a gonner there! If not for Hercule, he would have been crushed!"

Smutty chose that particular moment to morph her worried pose into one of adoration. She rested her chin in her hands, and looked to the skies with a faint glimmer in her eyes, "My hero," she spoke in a breathy whisper, perfectly articulated to where it would still be loud enough for the camera recorder to pick up.

Videl vaguely registered Goku in the background, his voice sounded angry, "You wanted this, Cell, I delivered!"

Cell was chuckling loudly, "Yes, the power of a true Super Saiyan! Finally! Now, allow me to demonstrate some of my impeccable and overwhelming power. Go ahead, Goku. I know you want to do it. You can smile now."

If Videl had been paying more attention to Goku's and Cell's conversation, the reoccurrence of the word Saiyan, may have been nagging at her mind again, but at this point she was too disgusted by the people she _was _watching to even care.

If she had been looking at Goku, she may have witnessed a look of recognition, of having been right, and she would have shared that feeling with him because she had also known that Cell was holding back on them.

She found out in an entirely different way. Her signal that things were about to go from bad to worse was Smutty's infamous curly red hair. A gust of unnaturally purple tinged wind had just blown the woman's hair up into an awkward vertical direction. Now it really looked like a flame. At first Smutty appeared irritated, pulling her hair down as best she could, and shying away from the camera.

"What the hell is up with this place?" she digressed from the main topic in annoyance.

By now Hercule had returned to the camera's spotlight, but his appearance was short lived because the cameraman turned to get a shot of what was causing the disturbance, Cell. Meanwhile, the announcer took his spot in front of the camera. He successfully blotted out the image of Cell with a purple iridescent aura fluctuating around his body.

"People of Earth, it appears that the competitor, Cell, is attempting to do the same thing that the blonde hippie had been up to. Now I'm not sure just what that is, but I fully intend to find out. This mysterious chromatic, powerful air phenomenon seems to be very dangerous, and nearly buried me in the rubble a few moments ago. You all witnessed the last efforts of Hercule to pull me out of the rocky deathtrap. Well, now, against our better judgment, my crew and I are getting up close and personal despite the risks. You're only going to get this raw coverage here, at WCNS, where we go all the way, to get you what you need to know!"

With that said, the cameraman chose to zoom in on the formidable figure of Cell. Cell was choosing the moment to smirk at Goku, and he effortlessly exploded with more power. Cell began laughing as a torrent of his energy went blasting in all directions.

At this point, Videl woke up out of what felt like a stupor. _'Oh crap! Not again!' _she thought as she braced herself for what she knew was coming. She was the closest to the ring. So it hit her first. She'd thought Goku's head-on rush of energy was bad, but this one amazingly felt way worse. To Videl, she could only imagine that she'd been smacked into the front of a steel freight-train going at least 90 mph. If it didn't feel like Cell's ki were boxing her ears, Videl may have heard what her father had to say about this.

Hercule took the opportunity of that last moment to jump in front of the camera, facing the onslaught of energy, with his hands posed blatantly on his hips in what he wanted to appear to the people of Earth as fearlessness.

"Alright, Cell, you want to use your smoke and mirrors magic on the Champ? You want to try to scare the defender of Earth and all that is good? Well think again cricket-boy!"

At this point, Hercule Satan was educated on what it felt like to be hit by a steel freight-train going no less the 90 mph.

* * *

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed that because it felt like it took me an eternity to write it! :D Anyway, sorry if there are any eyesore mistakes in there, I was tired when I edited this chapter. And as a side note, Videl figured out that Gohan was the Golden Warrior at the tournament, but she never came to the conclusion that Gohan beat Cell. Next chapter is when Goku and Cell really get serious, hehe, this should be fun! :D

Edit: After recieving a few reviews about it, it has come to my attention that it is actually Gohan that gives Videl the sensu bean, not Goku. I'm sorry if it offended anyone that I've changed it to Goku. I haven't watched DBZ for a long time, and so some smaller details could be flawed. That being said, I hope you all understand why I've decided I won't change it. I put out a lot of effort on it the first go-round, and I like the way it turned out. I honestly don't remember when Videl met Goku in DBZ, so I just made up my own introduction. I, myself, like the way they met in this fanfic. I think it's cute and it makes Videl wonder about Gohan and his family a little more, so it won't be changed. That is all! :D


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